| Author: | David Sudnow |
| Publisher: | Warner Books |
| Isbn: | 0-446-51261-3 |
| Pub Date: | 1983 |
Pilgrim in the Microworld is an analysis book on arcade game Breakout by David Sudnow.
David Sudnow was a sociologist professor at the University of California system, Guggenheim Fellowship winner in 1979 and piano teacher.[1] He discovered Breakout while receiving his son at an arcade and began playing the Atari 2600 version of the game for months. Sudnow visited manufacturer Atari and interviewed the game's programmers.
Boss Fight Books crowdfunded a reprint with a new foreword and copy editing on Kickstarter in 2019.[2]
The New York Times stated the book's style to be breathless and avoids comparisons on how the game fits into the "computer society".[3] Kirkus Reviews stated it might be self-indulgence and a personal experience.[4] San Francisco Examiner found the book "exhilarating".[5] [6] Newsweek ridiculed the book stating to read the game's manual and changing the money for the book into quarters to play Breakout instead.[7]
Kill Screen wrote a retrospective in 2013, comparing it to 1982's Invasion of the Space Invaders.[8] In 2020, Unwinnable examined Sudnow looked at music as a reference point for the book.[9]